Previews

Thrillville

LucasArts' new amusement park sim has thrown us for a loop-the-loop. And then maybe a part where you ride upside-down!

Spiffy:

The amusement parks have tons of different diversions to explore and play with.

Iffy:

It could end up suffering from a "Jack of all trades; master of none" syndrome.

When it's not making games based on Star-Wookiees or Nazi-killing college professors, LucasArts will occasionally release a game that's not based on a George Lucas film. The latest is Thrillville, a simulation game that allows you to create a custom theme park that's chock full of rides and attractions. Unlike some other sims, however, you won't just be building the park and watching your virtual guests have fun -- this game allows you to participate in the festivities as well.

As the game begins, you learn that you have inherited an amusement park from your eccentric uncle Mortimer. It's your job to run it successfully, keep the park guests happy, and fight off the advances of the evil Globo-Joy corporation. Ultimately, you will have up to five parks, each containing three distinct areas with varying themes such as sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and the ever-so-popular pirates and ninjas.

Like most amusement parks, the focus of your parks will be roller coasters. Luckily, the game is created by Frontier Developments, the people behind the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, so they definitely know what's up when it comes to coasters. Unlike the more involved coaster editors in the Tycoon series, it will be much easier to create a gigantic, twisting ride in Thrillville. Since this title is aimed more towards the family than hardcore PC gamers and wannabe tycoons, the simpler editor won't scare off the younger players. Still, the editor is powerful enough to create some complicated pieces of machinery, and there is even a selection of pre-built coasters that you can use as-is or customize to your liking.

Roller Coaster of Love

Of course, once your coaster is built, it's time to take it for a spin. Your character can freely roam the park, allowing you to experience your newly-created ride from their point of view. As fun as roller coasters are, however, an amusement park with just coasters would get old fast. That's where the attractions come in. These attractions take the form of mini-games, and there are 22 of them in all. These can range from a simple, Western-themed FPS (does anyone remember LucasArts' classic PC game Outlaws?) to modern takes on classic arcade games. A few of the games we saw were clearly inspired by Gradius and Super Sprint. In addition to those attractions, you'll also be able to create your own custom mini-golf courses and go-kart tracks. As an added bonus, most of these mini-games can be played with up to four players simultaneously via ad-hoc. Using the PSP's wireless capabilities even further, you'll be able to share some of your custom creations like go-kart tracks and roller coaster designs with others.